


To Each Their Own Romanticism

by BleuMorpho



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, Joey is a dork, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Tooth-rotting romantic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 14:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14916923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleuMorpho/pseuds/BleuMorpho
Summary: How do you propose to the man who hates romance, doesn't believe that marriages can last, and could buy an entire jewelry store chain with the snap of his fingers?AKA, the one where Joey is far more creative and romantic than he believes he is.





	To Each Their Own Romanticism

 

Joseph Wheeler had never been the romantic type.

 

Caring, when he wanted to be? Sure! Loyal to his friends and sister? To the death. And if his five-year relationship with Seto Kaiba had taught him anything, it was how to be patient and selfless even when he didn’t really want to be.

 

But romantic? Definitely not.

 

Then again, neither was Seto. It was one of the many small things that they had found common ground upon when embarking on this rollercoaster of a rivalry-turned-awkward-apprenticeship-turned-friendship-turned-partnership. They both preferred small, intimate gatherings — if none at all — on special occasions and only simple, useful gifts that they could actually find worth in. They barely ate out, with Joey unable to afford such a luxury and Seto far too busy with running a company, and preferred to spend their free time enjoying the peace and quiet of each other's company…or trying to beat each other into the ground with holographic monsters.

 

It suited them, it worked for them, and everyone else chose to stay out it so long as they continued to not kill one another.

 

But there was a downside to not being romantic in a romantic world — nobody else could teach him how to do romantic things in a non-romantic way!

 

“Yugi! I need your help, man!” Joey begged on his knees and desperate tears in his eyes. Yugi stared down at him with an expression that was equal parts sympathy and exasperation.

 

"O-okay, Joey, but maybe…we can take this inside?" he asked, glancing pointedly around at the judging eyes of the afternoon pedestrian traffic. Joey had run up to where the shorter duelist stood sweeping the front porch of the Game Shop, heedless of the scene he was making, and now they were paying the price as any potential customers within a block's radius hurried in every possible opposite direction.

 

They made their way to the living room, where Yugi’s grandfather sat filling out paperwork for the store’s various accounts — no doubt an excuse the two men had agreed upon so that the aging Muto patriarch could get off his feet for a while without admitting it. Joey chose to sit on the floor in front of the television while Yugi perched on the edge of the couch, his violet eyes wide and intent on listening to his friend’s problems. Bless him — he had no idea what was coming.

 

“Oh, hello, Joey! How have you been, my boy?” Solomon asked with a wide grin.

 

“I’m in trouble, Gramps! Big trouble!” he whined, clasping his hands in prayer in front of his face. “I need your guys’ advice!”

 

“What exactly is the trouble you’re talking about?” Yugi asked worriedly. The blonde could tell much darker, more violent images were rushing through his best friend’s mind — but he honestly couldn’t tell if they were better or worse than his current dilemma.

 

Joey took a deep breath.

 

“I want to marry Seto!” 

 

A thick silence followed his outburst, during which he watched the faces before him contort into many different shapes and emotions. Yugi seemed mostly surprised and a little relieved — _what on earth had he been imagining?!_ — while Grandpa seemed mostly amused to no end. Yugi blinked and shook his head, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

 

“Uh, alright…my condolences?”

 

“Hey, come on! We’ve been dating for five years! I thought you were okay with it?”

 

“Yeah, but...it’s _Kaiba_!”

 

“What are you trying to say?!”

 

“Boys, boys, please!” Solomon scolded, and Yugi had to force back his smirk back behind a mask of supportive friendliness.

 

“Okay, fine, congrats. But what do you need our help with?” he asked.

 

“Isn’t it obvious, Yugi? Joey needs ideas for a romantic proposal!” Grandpa explained cheerfully. Joey nodded seriously, glaring when Yugi’s expression turned slightly nauseated.

 

“What’s with that face, Yuge?” Joey asked warningly.

 

“Nothing! Look,” Yugi sighed, running a hand through his wild tresses and glancing at the empty space above Joey’s head with a faint blush on his cheeks. “I’m happy for you, Joey, really I am. But I’m not exactly the expert on this kind of stuff. And besides, doesn’t Kaiba hate all that romantic crap?”

 

"Oh, hush! Everybody likes a little romance every now and then!" Grandpa lectured with a sly grin. Yugi glanced at him with poorly hidden scrutiny, no doubt remembering all of the ogling at young women the old man had attempted since Yugi was a teenager.

 

Joey shifted uncomfortably where he sat.

 

“Actually, Yugi’s right. That’s why I’m having so much trouble,” he explained. He sighed and leaned over his crossed legs with his chin digging into the palm of his hand. “Seto and I don’t really do all that cutesy coupley stuff. And every site I check has all these mushy, run-of-the-mill ideas like hiding a ring in a cake or something. I can’t do that! He’d say no on principle!” 

 

“And probably throw the cake in your face,” Yugi murmured in agreement. He leaned back against the plush cushions of the couch, his eyes growing hazy in deep thought. “But, if he’s not into romantic gestures, don’t you think you should just ask him directly?”

 

“Yugi, I am disappointed in you! Where’s the passion? The love?” Solomon asked, his wrinkled hands clasping at his chest as though he were in physical pain. Yugi sighed, though Joey knew his friend well enough to see the amusement peeking through the exasperation.

 

The blonde duelist stared down at his feet, wondering for a moment if it _would_ be better if he just sat down and discussed it with Seto like a business proposal. But, at the end of the day, he also knew deep down that it wouldn’t be enough.

 

It hadn’t been easy at first, learning all of his lover’s quirks and body language. Seto Kaiba was a walking, talking contradiction in every aspect of his life — insults doubled as compliments, the cold shoulder was a sign of trust, and he was so desperate for a genuine human connection despite being absolutely terrified by the mere idea of it. It had taken Joey an entire year just to convince him that he truly did enjoy the billionaire’s company, under the right circumstances, and another six months to ease himself into the idiot’s personal circle. And even now, after everything they had been through together, Joey knew that Seto was still convinced in the back of his constantly firing brain that the blonde was going to simply up and abandon him someday.

 

Just like everyone else, besides Mokuba.

 

Which was why Joey was so determined to do this right! He wanted to prove once and for all that his stubbornness rivaled even that of the great Seto Kaiba, that he wasn’t going anywhere unless Seto truly did something unforgivable — and even that was a shorter list than the older duelist was willing to admit aloud to anyone. But everlasting marriage was also something Seto didn’t fully believe in, and it wouldn’t be enough to simply go through the motions of a normal proposal like every other ‘ _brainless lowlife_ ’ to convince him that Joey was serious.

 

So what exactly was he supposed to do instead?

 

“Maybe you could design the ring yourself? Base it on the Blue-Eyes, or something?” Yugi suggested. Solomon nodded in approval, his eyes thoughtful and contemplating.

 

“That would cost a fortune! I’m not exactly swimming in cash here. Besides, if he wanted one of those, he could just go out and buy it himself,” Joey whined. He threw himself sideways onto the floor, his frown deepening as a cold realization rushed through him. “He could probably buy an entire jewelry store chain with a snap of his fingers. What the hell am I supposed to get the guy who can afford everything?!”

 

“You could always _make_ him something,” Solomon spoke up kindly. “Something special and personal that nobody else could make.”

 

“Like what? I’m lousy with my hands, Gramps, you know that!”

 

“You can cook, though, right?” Yugi suggested with a comforting smile. Joey shrugged as best he could from his graceless sprawl on the living room carpet.

 

“Yeah, but nothing fancy. And you should see all the hoops I gotta jump through to get him to eat normally!” he said. He felt guilty shooting down every idea they had thrown at him, but he’d already been over all of this in the early morning hours before his alarm went off. It was all too generic, too simple, too mediocre to mean anything to the one who saw value in nothing but that he created himself.

 

“There has to be something,” Yugi grumbled. He stood up and thrust his fingers into his pockets, pacing the living room with a determined glare aimed directly at his shoes.

 

Joey smiled as he watched his friend snap into his Gamer Mode — after all, that was why he had gone to Yugi in the first place. Yugi could politely decline a challenge with ease, but there were some challenges that he latched onto like a starving man in the middle of a desert oasis. And when it came to his closest companions and their happiness, no challenge would stand up to his unwavering determination and dueling passion.

 

“Okay, Joey, we need more info,” he said, his narrowed eyes burning with unsuppressed calculation. “What does Seto like? What are his hobbies?”

 

“That’s easy. Having money, winning duels, crushing his opponents without mercy,” Joey listed with a smirk. Yugi turned that steadfast glare on him, and he quickly sobered purely out of survival instinct. “Uh, but seriously, he doesn’t really have many interests besides Duel Monsters and inventing new tech.”

 

"That poor boy needs to get out more," Solomon mumbled. Yugi stopped pacing and glanced at the door leading out to the Game Shop with a small frown.

 

“Hmm. Like you said, it’s hard to buy for someone like Kaiba. I doubt he doesn’t have at least three of every card out on the market right now,” the duelist champion said. Joey nodded sadly, picturing the expansive room dedicated to Seto’s tournament trophies and rare cards. He had certainly used his inherited wealth for more personal pursuits than almost any other young entrepreneur in the world, if Joey’s limited knowledge of such things was any indication, scrounging the edges of the earth for practically every first edition of every Duel Monsters card created from the very beginning of the game’s existence. 

 

……

 

Huh...but what if…

 

_OH!_

 

"OH!" he cried, sitting up with such velocity that Yugi's poor grandfather jumped and clutched at his heart again. Yugi flinched backward and blinked in alarm, his eyes switching back and forth between the two men and unable to settle on who needed his attention the most. "That's — but would it work? It might just work! OH, MY GOD, I GOT IT!"

 

“Joey!”

 

“Yugi, I need to borrow your cell!”

 

“Why?!”

 

“Because I accidentally deleted Duke’s number a while back and I need it!”

 

“ _What?!_ ”

 

* * *

 

 

He honestly hadn’t expected it to work out.

 

As he shifted uneasily on the plush plane seat across from one of Pegasus's many silent, suited goons, he mentally practiced his speech for the tenth time and kept his eyes firmly on the endless skies on the other side of the window. It had taken Duke a few days to compile and send the email of his request through Industrial Illusions' business links, happily using his small connection to Maximillion Pegasus to arrange an impossible meeting between the Duelist Kingdom runner-up and the creator himself. Once that particular hurdle had been cleared, much to Joey's shock and delight, the next hardest part had been coming up with an excuse for his extended absence in the Kaiba household that nobody would investigate or find suspicious.

 

“I’m going to go see my sister for a few days,” he’d eventually lied. “We’re going to be a bit busy, so don’t be angry if I don’t respond to any texts or calls right away.”

 

Mokuba had taken the news with a comforting level of disinterest and words of encouragement, while Seto had huffed in dismissal and pretended that Joey didn’t notice the disappointed clench to his jawline. The blonde made sure to make it up to him that night, _repeatedly_ , and had texted Serenity an apologetic plea to cover for him if anyone should try and ask her what was going on. A few days later, he’d received the itinerary for his flight to Pegasus’s private estate and the short time slot for their secret meeting.

 

Now all he had to do was try and appeal to Pegasus’s romantic side, which Joey knew for a fact he had, and convince him that Joey wasn’t just trying to swindle him.

 

The afternoon sun was high and bright as they finally landed on the outskirts of Pegasus’s castle, a small team of bodyguards lined up with military precision along the runway waiting for him to disembark. He nervously followed them into the jaws of the fortified estate away from all other forms of civilization, silently plopping down onto one of the many velvet loveseats strewn about the sitting room he had been directed to without fanfare. There he waited, anxious and more than a little uncomfortable at the reminders of that shit-show of a tournament Pegasus had thrown, while the former owner of the Millennium Eye finished up his business elsewhere.

 

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait too long.

 

“Ah, Mister Wheeler!” Joey practically flew to his feet as the silver-haired duel icon sauntered into the room, his customary red suit perfectly pressed and his buttons polished to perfection. “I must say I was quite intrigued by your request for this little meeting.”

 

“Ah, thanks for seeing me, Pegasus. I know you’re probably busy,” Joey said with a sheepish smile. He’d stopped being wary of the older man after the Orichalcos debacle, since there had been clear evidence that he was genuinely regretful of his actions in Duelist Kingdom and had been instrumental in saving the world. Still, Joey was keenly aware of Pegasus’s power and net worth, and so tried to be on his best behavior.

 

“Never too busy to see an old champion,” Pegasus replied, gesturing for Joey to sit as he took a smaller chair for himself. “Now, Mister Devlin’s email said you wanted to organize a special commission of sorts? One that could only be talked about in person?”

 

“Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that,” Joey murmured. He took a deep breath and scrounged up every bit of courage in his chest. “I was wondering how much it would cost to get a one-of-a-kind card from you? An original design type deal?”

 

"Heh. I had a feeling it was going to be something like that," Pegasus said with a knowing smile. Joey bit the inside of his cheek in fearful anticipation — he could only hope he wouldn't be dismissed out of hand. "I'm afraid I get requests such as these quite frequently, Mister Wheeler. And while I would like to honor your request in light of our past encounters, I'm afraid that even I have limitations on what I can and cannot do with Duel Monsters."

 

“Really? I thought you could design whatever you wanted?” Joey asked in shock.

 

“Oh, I can, in theory. But after the whole Egyptian God Cards fiasco, the idea of creating extremely limited cards left a bad taste in my mouth — I’m sure you of all people could understand.” Pegasus’s single brown eye grew cold at the reminder, and Joey suppressed a sympathetic shudder. “After that, my executives and I decided that every card must have at least three copies made for circulation, so no private commissions of a one-of-a-kind card are allowed without the Board’s approval. Besides, Duel Monsters should be shared by everyone, not hoarded by the wealthy alone. It would be horribly unfair if I just started designing individual cards for specific duelists.”

 

Joey chose to bite his tongue against the personal knowledge that the wealthy had their own ways of hoarding rare cards all for themselves. After all, Pegasus was entitled to his beliefs, incorrect and naive as they were.

 

“...though, I will admit I’m curious. I’d never known you to seek out the most powerful cards to strengthen your deck, Mister Wheeler,” Pegasus said softly.

 

“Oh, it’s not for me,” Joey said with a chuckle. He felt his cheeks grow warm despite his best efforts to appear calm and collected. “I, uh, I was hoping, well…”

 

“Go on,” the card designer said with a curious grin, leaning forward as he drew out the vowels in expectation.

 

“Ok, don’t laugh! I’m...planning on proposing to Seto Kaiba,” he confessed, fighting back a shy smile when Pegasus gasped and clapped his hands in elation that bordered on hysteria.

 

“OH, how marvelous! I knew you two were perfect for one another!” he said, his grin wider than Joey had ever seen before. “All that _tension_ between you all those years ago. It was a dead giveaway!”

 

“Wha — _Tension_?! There was no tension! Just pure rage and testosterone!” Joey denied with a glare. Pegasus simply laughed in good-hearted humor, leaning back into his chair and twirling a piece of his long hair in between his fingers.

 

“Hmm, now _that_ is interesting. Interesting, indeed,” he said quietly. He glanced at Joey appraisingly, with the silence in the fading echoes of his mirth seeping into the blonde’s skin until it bordered on uncomfortable. “I suppose Proposal by Duel Monster would be a very Kaiba-esque venture. I can see why you thought of it.”

 

“I didn’t know you had that rule, though. It doesn’t really work if the card isn’t only for him alone.”

 

“Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Mister Wheeler! Perhaps it depends on what you were thinking of,” the master said wisely. He entwined his long fingers together, oh so slowly and dramatic, before nodding his approval to explain further. “Tell me about your dream card for Seto, and we’ll go from there.”

 

* * *

 

 

Joey had been hoping for the best, maybe even a miracle, but he hadn’t honestly been expecting to return home with his prize firmly tucked away in his jacket’s deepest inner pocket.

 

His eyes had almost bugged out of his head when Pegasus had canceled all of his other meetings (of which there were two) once he’d finished explaining his concept and reasoning in half-stumbled, rambling sentences. His poor attempts at romance were apparently better than he’d believed, as Pegasus had set him up in a guest room and disappeared into the darkest corners of his castle to work on Seto’s special card almost immediately. Joey had walked through the rest of his visit in a daze, eager and somewhat nervous about what the outcome would be.

 

Three days was all it took.

 

And boy, did Maximillion Pegasus deliver when he promised to deliver!

 

Two days were spent on non-stop painting and brainstorming with his trusted second-hand, Croquet, about the card’s effects and details. After the canvas had been finished, Pegasus had revealed his design with a flourish, smiling gleefully as he watched Joey drool onto his fancy shag carpet and claw at the air in front of the painting with a mighty need. Another day was needed for the official printing, which Joey discovered took place in the basement of the castle when the necessity arose, and then he was sent on his merry way with two Special Edition Duel Monsters cards tucked away on his person. Pegasus had kept the third in his private vault, swearing that with the three-card condition met, the Industrial Illusions executives would have no problem with the commission.

 

“How much do I owe ya?” Joey had asked nervously, realizing only at the last minute that Pegasus had completed the project without discussing the terms and conditions with his lovesick client first.

 

But then Pegasus had shaken his head with a smile, pushed the cards into his hands, and allowed his eyes to fill with genuine happiness for a small, vulnerable moment.

 

“I still remember what it’s like, to be young and in love,” he’d whispered. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that feeling. Just this once, let’s consider the debt paid.”

 

Where the words should have filled Joey with warmth and joy, however, instead he began to worry. He had no doubt that his stubborn billionaire would appreciate the gesture, and he would gladly claim Joey’s offering for his own without hesitation, but after all of his planning and action, he now realized that he wasn’t completely convinced that Seto would actually say yes.

 

While they were not the most affectionate couple, Joey knew in his heart that Seto did actually love him — in his own stubborn, cynical way. But he also knew that love and marriage were not always synonymous with one another and that both of them were keenly aware of the high probability of failure of such constructs. Still, contrary to what his friends may have thought about the whole thing, Joey hadn't jumped into this mess without giving it a lot of thought.

 

Above all things, he wanted to spend the rest of his days by Seto’s side. He wanted to be a part of the Kaiba family, small and broken that it was, and he wanted to prove that they didn’t need to be the cookie-cutter dollhouse household that everybody wanted to force them to be. He wanted to wake up every morning knowing that his strong, stubborn, egotistical suitor wanted him and him alone, and that their bond was stronger than all of the dark shadows of their pasts.

 

He wanted it so badly that it ached, but he also wanted Seto to want it just as much.

 

The moon was almost full by the time he got back to the mansion, the mid-week traffic thankfully light as he punched in the codes to the side entrance and made his way through the darkness of the familiar expansive hallways. The next day was Wednesday, one of Seto’s lighter days at the company, but Joey still didn’t want to wake anyone too early with his late arrival. He kept his steps light as he ascended the main staircase and made his way towards his bedroom, keeping a close eye out for wayward furniture or wandering staff.

 

He almost made it before noticing the only open door in the hall — Seto’s door, left wide open in invitation even though Joey hadn’t told him he’d be arriving that night.

 

He silently debated for a moment, wondering if he should allow his lover the rest they always tried to convince him he needed, before throwing his duffel bag into his own bedroom and giving in to the temptation laid before him. He had learned from Mokuba a long time ago that a door was a sort of code to those who resided in the Kaiba mansion — enter through the open door and state your business, or stay away from the closed door if you valued your head’s place on your shoulders. But now the staff was all gone for the night, and Mokuba was safely tucked away in his own bedroom on the other end of the second floor.

 

Which could only mean that Seto Kaiba, master of having no emotions, had left the door open every night since his blonde-haired companion had departed, in the hopes that Joey would join him as soon as he’d returned.

 

Joey crept into the dark room and closed the door behind him as quietly as possible, carefully removing his jacket and placing it within arm’s reach on the side of the bed opposite to where Seto lay. The rest of his clothing followed, his bare skin tingling in relief as he slid into familiar sheets and sank back into the mattress beside his beloved. Despite the smooth cruising power of Pegasus’s private jet, his stomach still groaned at the comfort of a more stationary position as his mind started to drift off to the realm of dreams.

 

He should have known Seto wouldn’t get the memo.

 

He felt two firm grips encircle his wrists and pin them above his head, long legs straddling his hips and soft, silk pajamas brushing against his bare flesh. In the darkness of the room, Joey could barely make out the rare softness of the face above him as their lips brushed and their bodies melded together. No words were spoken the rest of the night, but they would have been redundant anyway.

 

“Welcome home,” Seto’s kisses whispered.

 

“I’ve missed you,” his traveling fingers said.

 

“Don’t leave me ever again,” his desperate gasps of pleasure against Joey’s neck begged.

 

‘ _Not in a million years, if you’ll have me,_ ’ the blonde responded silently, his grip just as strong and bruising as the light of the moon faded back into the blackness of the night sky.

 

* * *

 

 

They woke to Seto’s shrill alarm, always set to 5:00 no matter the day or the schedule that lay ahead. Joey had tentatively taken the entire week off of work, just in case, and so he stayed sprawled out in bed as he watched his billionaire genius pick up his discarded pajamas off of the floor and start his morning routine. The smile on his face refused to disappear as he thought about the secret gift buried deep in his own discarded clothing, and after hesitating for only a moment to see if the timing was right, he pounced.

 

“Hey, I got you something,” he called softly. Seto turned to him with a teasing smirk already in place, though Joey was surprised to see it falter when their eyes met.

 

What, was there something on his face?

 

“What kind of something? Your expression is weird,” Seto said worriedly.

 

“What? No, it’s not!”

 

“Yes, it is. What did you do?”

 

“Just get over here, would ya?” Joey huffed, throwing his body over the side of the bed and grabbing his jacket off the floor with a triumphant groan. It was a testament to how far they had come since high school that Seto complied without comment or complaint. Once they were both comfortably situated across from one another, Joey plucked the small blue box out of his pocket and handed it to Seto with a small blush rising to his cheeks. “It took me a while to think of what to get you, since we’re not...you know…”

 

“What on earth are you talking about?” Seto chuckled. “We’re not what? Sane?”

 

“That too,” Joey agreed with a shrug. Seto moved to lift the lid off the box, causing the blonde duelist to slam his own hand down to stop him in a panicked moment of weakness. “Just don’t — you can say no, okay? It’s fine!”

 

“...Joey?”

 

He forced his hand back to his side, digging them both into the comforter around his hips as he held his breath in anticipation. Seto glanced down at the box as though it might explode at any moment, slowly lifting the lid and setting it to the side. Joey had written a small, simple note and folded it in half on top of the two cards, with two words scrawled in his usual messy handwriting:

 

_Marry me?_

 

Seto’s eyes widened as the question settled into his brain, and it took all of Joey’s strength and self-discipline not to run out of the room in shame.

 

This was bad — was it bad? — why wasn’t he saying anything? Oh, God, he’d made a horrible mistake! Seto was going to dump him on the spot!

 

Heedless of the blonde’s silent, internal implosion, Seto’s eyes slowly moved away from the slip of paper down to the violet card border resting on a thin piece of red velvet fabric. The vibrant illustration of a fierce black-and-white dragon shimmered in the morning sunlight pouring into the room, pulsing with silent power and promise. Seto blinked and held the box closer to his face, inspecting every inch of the card and his lips moving as he read the details at the bottom.

 

“ _Light and Darkness Dragon_ ”, a fusion of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

 

A partnership that toppled empires and brought powerful opponents to their knees, if Seto still wanted to be a part of it.

 

“This - it’s not possible. This card doesn’t exist! I would have known!” Seto whispered in disbelief. Joey laughed nervously — _it wasn’t a no, yet_ — and ran his fingers up through the back of his hair with a sheepish grin.

 

“It does now. I went to Pegasus and had him make it for you,” he explained. Seto turned his wide-eyed stare back to Joey’s burning face, all sense of his normal haughtiness and bravado evaporated into thin air under the weight of his shock.

 

“You...what?!”

 

Joey leaned forward and plucked the top card from the box, showing Seto the second one hidden underneath. He brought the first card up to his own eye level, admiring the craftsmanship with the reverence any true duelist was required to pay it on principle.

 

“I know you don’t really believe in the whole marriage thing, but...I was hoping, if I found a way to prove that I really am in this for the long haul, you might...but rings are so traditional and mundane. You deserve something with a bit more meaning, something that represents us and all we’ve been through together,” he said softly. He allowed himself to smile up at Seto’s stunned expression, trying not to squirm as he bared the deepest, darkest parts of his soul for his lover to see. “Plus, we’re both huge nerds! So I thought, if nothing else would convince you to marry me, a special fusion monster of your Blue-Eyes and my Red-Eyes would!

 

“There’s only three copies of this baby in the entire world — one for Pegasus, for legal reasons, one for me, and one for you...if you’ll accept it.”

 

For an uncomfortably long while after his declaration, silence reigned supreme in the expansive bedroom around them. Seto’s eyes were hazy and unfocused as he stared at Joey’s face, as if he were trying to find any semblance of deceit in his expression while his large, unrivaled brain slowly malfunctioned beyond repair. Joey swallowed against the rising twist of anxiety in his throat, trying his best to give Seto the time he needed to process his proposal while being desperate for a concrete answer.

 

‘ _Maybe his silence is his answer,_ ’ his treasonous brain whispered.

 

It was that poisonous seed of doubt that finally caused his fragile smile to crumble completely, and he set the card aside before shaking his head.

 

“B - but, like I said, if you don’t want to, the card is still yours!” he tried to say encouragingly.

 

‘ _Stupid, stupid, stupid! All those times he called you an idiot, and he was right!_ ’ his brain taunted, and he tried not to focus on the fact that the inner voice sounded far too much like his deadbeat old man for comfort.

 

As he tried to hold his heart together through sheer force of will, that familiar, unyielding grip suddenly wrapped itself around his head and shoulders and pulled him roughly against rock-solid pecs. Seto rolled them over until Joey was pinned beneath him, his entire mouth messily pressed against the blonde’s lips to the point of physical pain. He released him just long enough to let their eyes find each other — watery blue to hopeful amber — before diving back in with equal force.

 

“You designed a dragon for me,” the billionaire gasped in between breathless kisses. “God, you’re perfect! Perfect and ridiculous!”

 

“I love you,” Joey responded, ignoring the last jab in light of this positive shift in atmosphere.

 

Seto released him with a ragged gasp, his long arm wrapped firmly underneath Joey’s shoulders and his opposing fingers roughly digging through the wild golden tresses poking at Joey’s eyes.

 

“Are you sure about this?” he asked softly. Joey would have been concerned about the slight sheen to his normally icy eyes if his traditional, determined glare hadn’t stayed alongside it. “You know what this would mean, don’t you? You would be _mine_ , no one else's — ever.”

 

“I’m _already_ yours, you idiot! Why do you think I bothered asking?” Joey growled with a pout. Seto’s grip in his hair grew soft and lingering, and Joey’s vision filled with the towering ceiling of the room as his lover buried his face into the crook of his shoulder.

 

“...I’ll need at least a year. To clear my schedule,” his muffled voice spoke up.

 

“Take all the time you need,” Joey murmured with a smile.

 

“We’re not going to make a big deal about it! No more than a hundred people, if that!”

 

“Wouldn’t dream of it!”

 

“And _you_ have to tell Mokuba!”

 

“Wait, what?!”

 

* * *

 

**Light and Darkness Dragon**

Card Type: Monster

Attribute: LIGHT

Types: Dragon / Fusion / Effect

Level: 8

ATK/DEF: 2800 / 2400

 

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon" + "Red-Eyes Black Dragon"

While face-up on the field, this card is also DARK-Attribute. Once per Chain, during either player's turn, when a Spell Card, Trap Card, or monster effect is activated: This card loses exactly 500 ATK and DEF and that activation is negated. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: Target 1 monster in your Graveyard (if possible); destroy all cards you control, also Special Summon that monster (if any).

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, anyone who knows anything about the real Light and Darkness Dragon will recognize that I fudged with its design to fit the story. Just pretend this is an AU where Pegasus designs this version of the card instead! XD


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